Sun blocker hood

ABSTRACT

A sun blocker hood for wearing with a cap having a cap bill. The hood is arranged to fit over a wearer&#39;s head with an opening for the wearer&#39;s face, and includes a head covering portion for covering the top and sides of the wearer&#39;s head to define a face opening. The head covering portion includes an overhang portion including a bill covering portion arranged to extend over the cap bill when worn on the head, and left and right blinder portions attached to or integrally formed with the bill covering portion. A bill pocket is formed at a distal end of the bill covering portion for receiving the cap bill. The bill pocket cooperates with the cap bill to extend out the left and right blinder portions to block sun glare from entering from left and right sides of the wearer&#39;s face.

BACKGROUND

A problem faced with anglers is that of glare from the sun, typically reflected from the water surface. The glare impedes the clear vision of the angler trying to see objects and fish below the water surface.

The glare problem can be alleviated to some extent by use of polarized sun glasses. Still, considerable light energy impacts the angler's eyes from the sides.

Hooded garments such as hooded shirts, hooded sweaters, hooded pullovers, hooded sweatshirts and jackets provide warmth and sun protection for the head and neck, but still allow substantial light to enter the wearer's eyes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the disclosure will readily be appreciated by persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1A diagrammatically illustrates a left side view of the head of a person wearing a cap with a bill. FIG. 1B diagrammatically illustrates the placement of an exemplary embodiment of a sun blocker hood on the person's head over the cap and bill.

FIG. 2 is a front side view of a garment with a sun blocker hood being worn by a person wearing a billed cap or hat beneath the hood.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the garment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of the garment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a right side view of the garment as in FIG. 4, with the hat shown in dashed line.

FIG. is a diagrammatic view of the hood portion of FIG. 2, illustrating how the bill fits into the hood pocket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description and in the several figures of the drawing, like elements are identified with like reference numerals. The figures may not be to scale, and relative feature sizes may be exaggerated for illustrative purposes.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is a hooded garment, and an example is diagrammatically illustrated with a person's head 10 and cap 12 in FIGS. 1A-1B. A unique feature of the garment is in the design of the hood 50, which is configured to connect to the bill 14 of the wearer's hat or cap 12, to create side blinders including blinder 56A (FIG. 1B) that block the sun's glare from the sides. This is important to anglers trying to see down in the water to spot fish below the water surface. The face opening in the hood is designed so that most of the face are covered, leaving only the eyes exposed preferably to reduce the maximum amount of glare. The hood itself is designed with a front overhang area 52 having a sufficient length to cover the bill of a cap worn under the hood. The hood is also designed so that side portions of the hood extend past the plane 20 (FIG. 1B) of the wearer's eyes to form side blinders (left side blinder 56A shown in FIG. 1B) to block the glare from the sides. A pocket or lip 54 is formed at the tip of the overhang area 52 into which the bill 14 fits. The primary purpose of the pocket or lip is to help extend out the overhang area of the hood so that the side blinders are extended to block the glare incident from the sides.

FIGS. 2-6 illustrate another exemplary embodiment of a garment 150 having an attached hood 100 in accordance with the invention. In the example shown, the garment may be a hooded shirt or pullover, fabricated of a fabric having a suitable sunlight blocking capability. Exemplary suitable fabric materials include polyester, rayon, nylon, cotton, elastane, and blends of materials, but other fabric types may be employed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hood 100 includes a neck covering portion, which is fitted with a zipper 112 to open/close the face opening 114 of the hood to facilitate donning and removal of the garment by the wearer, and to form the hood to maximize the glare reduction. Other embodiments may employ other fastening structures such as buttons or a drawstring encircling the face opening, or rely on the stretchiness of the fabric defining the hood.

The hood 100 includes a front overhang portion 102, extending out over the bill 14 of the cap 12. Side blinder portions 106A, 106B are attached to, or integrally formed with the front overhang portion. An interior layer 108 is attached to the overhang portion at the leading edge 102A (FIG. 5) and along sides of the overhang portion, forming a pocket 104 into which the bill 14 of the cap is inserted. FIG. 6 diagrammatically depicts the cap bill 14 inserted into the pocket 104.

With the bill 14 providing a relatively rigid support extending out past the wearer's eyes, the side blinder portions 106A, 106B are forced to extend out past the wearer's eyes as well as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. As the zipper 112 is closed, the face opening is closed, the wearer's chin and mouth may provide a lower anchor to the position of the side blinder portions as well.

The hood 100 in an exemplary embodiment is fabricated from fabric portion 120 for covering the top of the head and back of the neck, and extending over the bill of the cap, as well as left and right portions 122, 124 which are connected to the fabric portion 120 by seams 122A, 124A. As noted above, a fabric portion 104 is attached to the leading edge 102A of the overhang portion of the fabric portion 120 to form the pocket 104, and may be attached to the overhang portion along portions of the seams 122A, 124A.

Although the foregoing has been a description and illustration of specific embodiments of the subject matter, various modifications and changes thereto can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A sun blocker hood for wearing with a cap having a cap bill, the hood comprising: a flexible hood arranged to fit about a wearer's head with an opening for the wearer's face; the hood comprising: a head covering portion for covering the top and sides of the wearer's head and the wearer's neck to define a face opening, the head covering portion including an overhang portion including a bill covering portion arranged to extend over the cap bill when worn on the head, and left and right blinder portions attached to or integrally formed with the bill covering portion; a bill pocket at a distal end of the bill covering portion for receiving the cap bill within the bill pocket; the bill pocket cooperating with the cap bill to extend out the left and right blinder portions to block sun glare from entering from left and right sides of the wearer's face; the hood further comprising a closure for opening and partially closing the hood opening.
 2. The sun blocker hood of claim 1 wherein the closure comprises a zipper.
 3. The sun blocker hood of claim 1, wherein the bill pocket is defined by a fabric piece connected to a leading edge of the overhang portion and along sides of the overhang portion.
 4. The sun blocker hood of claim 1, wherein the closure is configured to close the face opening so that the wearer's mouth is covered.
 5. The sun blocker hood of claim 1 wherein the overhang portion and the left and right blinder portions are configured in cooperation with the cap bill to extend forward edges of the blinder portions past a plane extending through the wearer's eyes.
 6. The sun blocker hood of claim 1, wherein the head covering portion comprises a top fabric portion for covering the top of the head and back of the neck, and extending over the bill of the cap, and left and right portions defining the left and right blinder portion, the left and right portions connected to the top fabric portion at respective left and right seams.
 7. A garment with a sun blocker hood for wearing with a hat having a bill extending forward of the hat body to shield the wearer's eyes, the garment comprising: a garment for the upper body; a flexible hood attached to the garment and arranged to fit over a wearer's head with an opening for the wearer's face; a head covering portion for covering the top and sides of the wearer's head and the wearer's neck to define a face opening, the head covering portion including an overhang portion including a bill covering portion arranged to extend over the bill when worn on the head, and left and right blinder portions attached to or integrally formed with the bill covering portion; a bill pocket at a distal end of the bill covering portion for receiving the hat bill within the pocket; the bill pocket cooperating with the hat bill to extend out the left and right blinder portions to block sun glare from entering from left and right sides of the wearer's face; the hood further comprising a closure for opening and partially closing the hood opening.
 8. The garment of claim 7, wherein the garment is a hooded jacket, pullover, sweatshirt or shirt.
 9. The garment of claim 7 wherein the closure comprises a zipper.
 10. The garment of claim 7, wherein the bill pocket is defined by a fabric piece connected to a leading edge of the overhang portion and along sides of the overhang portion.
 11. The garment of claim 7, wherein the closure is configured to close the face opening so that the wearer's mouth is covered.
 12. The garment of claim 7 wherein forward edges of the side blinders extend past a plane extending through the wearer's eyes.
 13. The garment of claim 7, wherein the head covering portion comprises a top fabric portion for covering the top of the head and back of the neck, and extending over the hat bill, and left and right portions defining the left and right blinder portion, the left and right portions connected to the top fabric portion at respective left and right seams. 